Testimonials

Student experiences

Student ISP innovation & entrepreneurship processes

Merel Laarhoven

"I followed this course to participate in a real-life project, and collaborate with students from other departments. Working on an open-ended challenge was a new experience for me. Additionally, the 'going out of the building' principle was unique; something I hadn't learned in any of my other Bachelor's and Master's courses. It was very rewarding to be in charge of my own learning, and the continuous coaching resulted in a rapid learning curve. The fact that our challenge revolved around making the TU/e more sustainable, and that we could directly see the impact of our project, added significant value for me. If you want to improve your teamwork and pitching skills, I would highly recommend taking this course." Click for more information.

Student ISP innovation through art & design

Sigi van Lindt

At the start of the course we had to set goals for ourselves, and I was razor-focused on one thing: further improving my ability to creatively express myself through technical art. I’m really proud of what we showcased during the final presentations, it felt like the whole project came together at the last moment. And I’m excited to to continue working with this team as we progress the project toward the Dutch Design Week. I’m leaving this course with more confidence in my ability to tackle technical challenges, even if they look hard at first. And that if you don’t know something yet, it is okay to rely on your ability to quickly learn those new things." Click for more information.

Student ISBEP

Vita van den Broek

"The Warm Technology for People with Dementia challenge instantly caught my attention for my Bachelor End Project at Innovation Space (ISBEP). The opportunity to apply my knowledge and closely engage with stakeholders such as people with dementia, care institutions, and families is immensely valuable. Due to my strong interest in this project, it has expanded my considerations for future master's program options. I really enjoyed participating in a BEP at Innovation Space for its creativity, networking and emphasis on diverse interests!" Click for more information about ISBEP.

Team Manager Solar Team Eindhoven

Wisse Bos

Wisse Bos recently graduated from TU/e bachelor Industrial Engineering and is Team Manager of student team Solar Team Eindhoven. We interviewed him about his experience as a TU/e student with his curricular and extra-curricular activities: "I joined team Solar to apply my knowledge practically and work on a project for a higher purpose. As the team manager, I learn practical skills such as keeping an overview, networking, and understanding organizations’ operations. I also learn about other disciplines and how they work. I apply theories learned in my Bachelor Industrial Engineering and better understand their relevance." Click to read the full interview.

Student ISP innovation through art & design

Charlie Rijvers

"Finally found the course I had been looking for!" Master's student Human-Technology Interaction Charlie Rijvers tells about our ISP innovation through Art & Design course: "I never felt technology and art had to be two completely separate things. Yet in high school and during my bachelor’s they were. Technology and art, however, both ask you to be creative. I’m happy to now finally learn more about where these two fields meet and how I can apply my technical and psychological skills in the wonderful field of art." Click for more information about the course.

From ISP Student team to start-up

Student team Stressless

In an interview with Innovation Origins, the team members of Stressless reflect on what they learned during the ISP innovation and entrepreneurship processes course. David Lodder concludes: “Of many things I learned, I’d mention the mental aspect. Dealing not necessarily with setbacks but with feedback that wasn’t what you expected and how that might impact your motivation. In a way, to get comfortable in an uncomfortable zone.” Gijs Boekweit adds: "This course gave us a chance to experience what the real world is about. Interacting with the challenge owner was a rocky road to drive in, but it helped us learn things that we wouldn’t have learned in a theory class.” Click to read the interview with the team, and their coach Gert Guri.

From ISP student to co-founder & CEO at Aristotle Technologies

Maurits Overmans

"The TU/e innovation Space Project (ISP) ensures rapid personal and professional development. No matter if you want to make an impact as an engineer, entrepreneurial engineer, or entrepreneur. It is an amazing opportunity to form a diverse and multidisciplinary team to solve the challenge of a pioneering organization in the Brainport region. The validation that this enables you to do is valuable in determining the technical, commercial, and financial feasibility of your execution of the solution. You can finish this project with your co-founders, a launching customer, and an amazing network that will support your journey towards making an impact on society." Click for more information about the course.

MEET THE STUDENT: IVY VAN DONGEN

Ivy van Dongen: Master's student, TU/e Contest participant and member of Team HART

My name is Ivy van Dongen, and I am a first-year Master's student studying Industrial Design at TU/e. I came across TU/e innovation Space during my bachelor's degree when I participated in the TU/e Contest with the concept, HEXO. Although my team didn't win, the experience was an absolute blast! We had the opportunity to learn from and speak with partners, develop business models, and discover how to turn our idea into a marketable product. The entrepreneurial insights I gained from this experience were something I missed during my regular bachelor's program.

While reflecting on the great experiences I had with the Challenge-Based Learning approach of TU/e Innovation Space during the TU/e contest, I decided to join a student team in September as an additional challenge alongside my Master's studies. There were many interesting teams to choose from, but I ultimately selected Team HART as they were working in a domain (Human Augmentation) that was new to me, making it even more intriguing. The team is relatively small but really multidisciplinary team with students that are driven to reach beyond regular human senses to become more than human and achieve freedom of experience.

Since then, I've had the opportunity to do many exciting things, such as exhibiting at the Dutch Design Week, a bucket list item for many designers. However, the most intriguing aspect of student teams is the dynamic in which each member brings particular skills or knowledge to the table, stemming from their studies at TU/e or other experiences, while also learning equally from others. During the past few months, I've learned both soft and hard skills that have already had a significant positive impact on my study/work projects and professional skills, while simultaneously achieving milestones with our team.

 

Challenge Owner: DAF

Kati Brock, strategic planner (digital) services at DAF Trucks, reflects on being a challenge owner for Innovation Space Project (ISP). "The automotive industry is changing. We are collecting more and more data in our trucks, but we are not quite sure what to do with it yet. We are moving from products to services, and data is a crucial aspect in developing services. So, our challenge to the students was: We have data, but what kind of other data can we use to offer more complete services and solutions to our customers?"

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Alumnus Bas Verkaik is founder of the TU/e spin-off ELEO Technologies. During his studies in 2016, he traveled the world on an electric motorcycle with student team STORM. He was also one of the instigators of Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) in TU/e innovation Space.

After all those years, Bas remains an ambassador for CBL and TU/e innovation Space, as evidenced by his enthusiastic appeal for TU/e students: “Join a student team! My golden tip is: just start, preferably with a healthy dose of passion and open-mindedness. Dare to think big, because you have nothing to lose. And the energy and time you put in will pay off. Everything you learn in a student team will come in handy when you start working later on. Even then you are constantly working to solve unforeseen problems.”

MEET THE STUDENT: VIJAY VIVEKANANDAN

Vijay Vivekanandan: Master's student Automotive Technology, Student Assistant and TU/e Contest participant

"I initially came across innovation space during my application stages, and the concept of Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) was something that immediately caught my attention. I was really curious to explore the concept of CBL, and my first interaction was during the Master Kick-Off challenge day. I took part in one of the many themed inter-disciplinary challenges arranged, and our team went on to win in the category! The whole experience of brainstorming, ideating, defining, and pitching an idea to solve a real-world problem, as an interdisciplinary team, was very interesting and unique. 

With that being the starting point, I went on to attend multiple workshops that happen in TU/e innovation space constantly, such as ideation, pitching and problem definition. TU/e innovation Space is actually a place that really resonates and lives up to its name. The moment you walk in, you just get so inspired seeing everyone working ambitiously with so much enthusiasm – be it people working in the prototyping facilities, student teams, students and coaches in a CBL activity or a group of students just getting started on an idea!

The whole ecosystem is so vibrant and ambitious, and hence, when I got an opportunity to join as a Student Assistant in TU/e innovation space, I took it up with great excitement! The most unique thing about TU/e innovation space is that you are not bound by limits in terms of exploring an idea. If you have an idea and you are really motivated by it, you can get all the support from defining the idea to entrepreneurship. An even better thing is that you do not necessarily need to have an idea in the first place, as you get learning opportunities on how to identify problems and ideate."

 

Challenge Owner: NSO

Jasper van Loon is the program manager satellite applications at the Netherlands Space Office (NSO). He explains that the NSO spends billions of euros on space infrastructure. While launcing many satellites, the NSO would like to make use of all the data that is coming from this network. The challenge for the Innovation Space Project (ISP) students was to use the big amount of data as a starting point for a new application. What did they came up with?

MEET THE TEACHER: JOHANNA HÖFFKEN

Johanna Höffken: teacher of the year 2020

‘’TU/e innovation Space plays a key role in my teaching as it offers me the space and inspiration to innovate my education and make it impactful. In the BSC course Responsible Innovation students work on real-world projects, supervised by societal stakeholders. Students work on these challenges in TU/e innovation Space, exchange ideas with other teams and can transform their ideas into prototypes and products.

TU/e innovation Space offers the ideal platform and tools for realizing this. Yet, TU/e innovation Space is much more than that. It is a community of enthusiastic professionals and students who want to make an impact in the world and want to contribute to responsibly tackling the grand societal challenges of our times. I am happy and proud to be part of this.’’

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